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March 2 2024
GOD’S APPOINTED TIME
At some point in our walk with the Lord, we have all received a Promise, a Prophetic Word or a Vision for our lives. These messages may have been a personal prophecy from a person, or come directly from the Lord Himself. They may have been about a ministry, a family, a career or even a project. Some of you had situations arise in your life, which made your God given vision seem as if it was a figment of your imagination.
Many times we wonder, if it was a word from God, why didn’t it come to pass yet. And then we question God, will it ever come to pass? The Holy Spirit showed me a variety of reasons why our prophetic promises and prophecies may have been delayed.
The first reason is that sometimes those prophetic words are for an appointed time. Just as a pregnant woman does not see the baby immediately when she conceives, but goes through a nine month process before giving birth, the vision has a due date and it is for an appointed time.
It may seem as if the circumstances are against you, but if you know it’s a promise from God, wait on that vision. Continue to nurture and protect the vision that has been impregnated inside of you. Recognize the process of development, knowing that you will give birth to that vision in due season.
The second reason is that sometimes the enemy will try to stop that word from being fulfilled and you have to wage war with that prophetic word. In the book of First Timothy, Paul was encouraging Timothy to wage a good warfare “concerning the prophecies” that were given to him. This implies that Timothy would face spiritual warfare in fulfilling those prophecies. Fight the good fight of faith by standing on that word.
The third reason is that sometimes God tests our integrity. John Paul Jackson said several times, it takes at least 16 years of training to walk into the calling of a prophet and most of it is personal training of our character. Psalm 105:19 speaks of Joseph, saying: until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.
The forth reason is that there is unforgiveness in your heart towards someone. Forgiveness is not just letting go of resentment towards the person, it’s also freeing ourselves from the bondage of bitterness. If we don't forgive others, that anger will fester and continue to grow into hatred. If it's not dealt with, it will lead to bitterness or rage. It could also cause sickness and disease.
The fifth reason is sin. John 8:34 Jesus said, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. And the apostle Paul said, you are slaves to whatever you yield yourself servants to obey. Either slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness. You may still have an addiction to drugs, alcohol or pornography. We need to get clean, and get our hearts right so that we could be vessels with pure living water flowing through us.
The sixth reason is that you still need deliverance from things in your past. You can’t move forward with God if you are still living in your past. If the Lord has a promise for your future, holding on to things from yesterday will hinder the process. If you are holding on to old habits, they are weights that will hinder you from walking into your destiny. He can’t put new wine into old wineskins. Jesus wants to set you free.
The seventh reason why a prophetic word may be delayed is that you are connecting with the wrong people. Recently I read a post that said: “Hang out with warriors, the conversation is different”. Don't be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? We need to be sure that we are in alliance with godly believers.
The eight reason why the word of the Lord hasn’t come to pass in your life yet may be because you were misled by a false prophecy. Some believers want to prophesy so bad that they fabricate their own prophecies. This is not only dangerous but could have a negative impact on the receiver’s life.
It’s crucial to be cautious and discerning that we don’t make any life changing decisions from a prophetic word that we are not sure of. Their made up stories could lead others life astray. It’s important to stay vigilant and question the authenticity of such a person. If someone is truly called, their gift will make room for them.
There are promises that The LORD has made to you that have died. Some of you have ministries that were once thriving but are now nonexistent. Some of you used to pray the sick, and people were healed but now you feel as if the glory has left you.The LORD wants to resurrect the gifts and callings that have perished. He is about to breathe into those situations that seem impossible in the natural.
Just as Elisha brought the Shunammite woman’s dead son back to life He is going to resuscitate you with his breath and revive those dead dreams and areas in your life.He is breathing life into believers in this season of great exploits. Don’t look at things in the natural, because Jesus is about to commission you in what he has called you to do.
As you rise up and decree and declare that “all is well”, Jesus will honor your faith and raise that which is dead back to life.
“I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected. Then The LORD answered me and said: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”
Habakkuk 2:2-3.
“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”
Galatians 6:9.
This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare.
1 Timothy 1:18
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